Beyond Design: the Construction and BIM blogtag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-955761842638415472016-10-11T14:51:21+01:00Beyond Design is your one-stop blog for the construction industry, BIM & technology. Stay ahead on the latest industry trends, receive tips & tricks and receive updates on what is happening with Autodesk construction workflows. From preconstruction to field management, Beyond Design has you covered.TypePadAugmented Reality: The Next Interface for Design and Makingtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a014e87fbd82d970d01bb093f05b2970d2016-10-11T14:51:21+01:002016-10-11T14:56:31+01:00The AEC industry is ripe for disruption by Augmented Reality. I recently gave a "Pecha Kucha"-style presentation about Augmented Reality at the Autodesk XSummit, where I provided a brief overview and history of AR through the lens of AEC. (My co-presenter, Joel Pennington, looked to the future, where AR platforms...Dace Campbell

The AEC industry is ripe for disruption by Augmented Reality. I recently gave a "Pecha Kucha"-style presentation about Augmented Reality at the Autodesk XSummit, where I provided a brief overview and history of AR through the lens of AEC. (My co-presenter, Joel Pennington, looked to the future, where AR platforms will empower the next generation of designers and makers.) Below is a loose transcript of portions of that presentation… enjoy!

AR Overview

Inspiration for AR comes from a variety of sources, from heads-up displays in the military, to the great science fiction stories of the 20th century; from the first industrial uses in manufacturing, to video-overlay AR in sports broadcasting. Augmented Reality has captured the imaginations of people seeking a better interface for designing and creating.

Let's be clear: AR is not VR. Unlike Virtual Reality, which fully immerses participants in an artificial environment, AR enhances the experience of the real world by incorporating contextual information when and where it is needed. By mixing the real and the virtual, AR will be more integrated into our everyday lives than VR, and a much larger market opportunity.

A key characteristic of AR is the spatial overlay of digital information on the physical world. AR is ideal for making comparison. Remember these puzzles? They challenged us with: "Spot the eight differences," but in the real world, we're asked harder questions, like: "Are there any differences, and if so, how many?" AR can help.

There are two kinds of AR hardware interfaces: displays for the head and displays for the hand. In the last decade, both form factors have evolved, from customized to commoditized. The broad availability of head-mounted displays, mobile phones, and AR-ready tablets, allows companies like Autodesk to focus on making software tools for AR.

For professionals in manufacturing and AEC, AR fits well into a lean story. Lean is about providing the right "stuff" to the right people, in the right place and time. AR is a technology that supports this approach, providing the right information in the right place.

History of AR in Construction

Let's look at the development of AR since the turn of the century, as applied to construction. The "Magic Book" was a landmark project that introduced and popularized the use of black square, optical markers for tracking virtual objects. It featured the first published AR construction documents, complete with pictures, text, and mixed reality experiences to guide the assembly of a chair.

Since that humble beginning, the construction industry has become enamored by AR. We've had prototype projects, demonstrating accurate wall framing without a tape measure, with a mobile projector as an "AR flashlight." That led to AR on active construction sites, with large-scale markers and ruggedized tablets to visualize building components like a staircase in context and at full scale.

AR in AEC Today

Today, each party in the AEC industry uses AR in different, but complementary, ways in the lifecycle of a building. AR enables owners, architects, and contractors to compare the as-is, the as-intended, and the as-built conditions, and they're doing so with a variety of software. We must extend our every-day BIM tools to include AR, in order to support this cycle, and remain competitive in the AEC market.

For example: architects use AR to visualize their designs in context, whether displayed full scale on a project site, or scaled-down onto physical study models. Designers are also using AR to support in-person, collaborative design reviews.

AR gives anyone on a project team easy access to data-rich models regardless of their experience with BIM tools. Contractors are now using AR for rapid, intuitive layout and installation without paper drawings or survey equipment. They also use it for quality control, to understand where work may be installed incorrectly.

Finally, for building owners, a promising use case for AR is the "ultimate stud finder," to reveal hidden construction conditions. They also use AR for facilities maintenance, overlaying meta-data on building equipment and systems to get status updates in real-time. There is no shortage of software tools we should enhance with AR, to provide AEC professionals a complete 21st-century software ecosystem.

AR for AEC Tomorrow

The next generation of designers and makers – and, make no mistake: they are coming to replace us – will have much higher expectations, and lower tolerance, for human-computer interfaces that behave and respond intuitively. In the near future, it will not be sufficient to "bolt on" an AR module or functionality to our software tools, but rather reinvent them entirely as AR platforms that support design and making at its core.

Even as Augmented Reality becomes a household name, the current state of AR leaves much to be desired. There is a time and a place for everything, and AR is a vital piece of delivering the right information in the right place. The AEC industry is begging for AR solutions, the hardware to support AR is within reach. Autodesk and its customers must collectively demand and invest in augmented reality. If you don't, someone else will!

Happy 5th birthday Beyond Design!tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a014e87fbd82d970d01bb09056dcd970d2016-05-24T10:33:19+01:002016-05-24T10:33:19+01:00Happy Birthday to us, Happy Birthday to us, Happy Birthday Beyond Design!! Happy Birthday to us! Five years ago today myself and Paul Walker launched this Beyond Design blog. When we first launched our aim was to "focus on the functionality, workflows and interoperability between Autodesk Construction solutions". At that...Lee Mullin

Happy Birthday to us,

Happy Birthday to us,

Happy Birthday Beyond Design!!

Happy Birthday to us!

Five years ago today myself and Paul Walker launched this Beyond Design blog. When we first launched our aim was to "focus on the functionality, workflows and interoperability between Autodesk Construction solutions". At that time that was mostly Navisworks and certain tools in Revit and AutoCAD. What a difference a few years makes in technology as BIM 360 and the cloud have become our core platform for coordinating and delivering models to site, and fabrication is no longer a siloed part of the process. In the five years since we started this blog mandates for usage of BIM have come in place all over the world and many governments now see digital construction as a high priority to reduce waste and costs in major building and infrastructure projects.

So whilst it doesn't seem that long ago since Adele topped the US charts with Rolling in the Deep and the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film was number one around the world, the construction site has changed considerably.

Mobile devices have gone from a rarity on the most tech savvy sites to commonplace across industry. Powerful computers in your pocket or the size of a notebook allowing you to do multiple jobs in one go rather than needing 6 or 7 devices, printing bills have dropped and more people are using tools like BIM 360 Docs to load the latest construction documentation straight to their phone or tablet and feed issues back to the office.

Connectivity and the Cloud has shifted from the latest buzzword to a normal part of our everyday lives. Think back 5 years, most people were still adding to their CD, DVD and Bluray collections, now they're gathering dust in many people's attics due to companies like Netflix and Spotify. In construction, the link between office and site has changed the way technology is perceived by many firms with investment in decent internet connection on site and suitable hardware becoming a priority.

Drones and UAV's have become the must have toy for many children and big children but the real life applications to help with inspections of hard to reach areas, and ability to create 3D models accurate enough for cut and fill calculations from photos taken by these self-piloted devices, would five years ago have been dismissed as something from a sci-fi film.

Reality Computing is an area that already had traction back in 2011 but was still scarce, over the last five years drops in hardware costs, innovative new data capture methods like from backpacks, cars and UAV's and new technology like Project Tango from Google have made a conventional laser scanner look boring.

Wearables such as the prototype Google Glass, DAQRI smart helmets, smart watch's and location and sensor technology embedded in safety vests might not have taken over construction yet but we are seeing a change in tone from why to how, in five years' time I think we'll see more of this technology becoming standard on larger projects and filtering down to certain personnel on those smaller projects, like tablets are doing today.

The Internet of Things and sensor technology in buildings, again have gone from a rare example of how things could be done to a common part of many people's lives. For example I can't imagine how I'd get on without my Nest, a thermostat that allows me to switch off my heating from my phone on the other side of the world, now many of the largest projects in the world such as Hudson Yards, are looking at sensor technology as an essential part of their design.

Increase in use of Big Data as a way to measure projects to identify problems early in an industry notoriously bad at predictions, allowing contractors to make better decisions about which subcontractors they work with and when to invest in additional resources.

With 3D printing we've seen a couple of false starts such as the story of ten 3D printed houses in a day which was found recently to be faked, however there's still a lot of interest in how this method of manufacturing on site could change how buildings and infrastructure are delivered in the future with many proof of concepts that just weren't around five years ago. There's starting to be more of a push to 'local factories', where items are built on or very close to site for quicker assembly, mirroring some of the trends we see in manufacturing.

We have seen a surge in the interest in Advanced Robotics for construction with companies such as MX3D are looking at how to 3D print a bridge in the middle of Amsterdam using these robots, and other examples of robots being used for bricklaying!

That's how our world has changed over five years, here's some interesting stats about that journey you've joined us on: -

Nearly half a million views!

35% of users from the US, 10% from the UK, and 5% each from Australia, India and Canada

In fact the only countries I couldn't see any visitors for were Chad and Vatican City (hurry up Pope, get into BIM!)

Around half of you find us by searching through things like Google!

10 Authors who have contributed regularly so far (with 2 more added today)

So to celebrate we have had a reshuffle of our authors and would like to welcome Lejla Secerbegovic and Julien Drouet to the Beyond Design Team! They'll bring a different perspective on how fabrication and improved use of the design tools can bring more to the contractor and more tips and tricks to improve your day to day workflows.

You may also notice a new look to the blog, one of the things this allows is better mobile access so you can view our blog on the move!

Our aim hasn't changed in the last five years, so it leaves us to thank you for your support, feedback and continued use of our software, and here's to another five years and more!

7. Services to optimize energy and operations of buildings start to proliferate as The Internet of Things connects and gathers data from more and more building products, like security, HVAC, lighting, elevators and escalators, electrical and plumbing.

8. Emerging economies will advance efficiency in design, construction, and operations processes globally, using green investments made possible by the COP21 Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

10. Reality can be captured, augmented, and made virtual through big data to create a digital mirror of the physical world in near real time.

As you can see from these trends, there will be many significant changes to building and infrastructure design, construction, and operations.

Daily Update Feature Now Available on the BIM 360 Field iPad Apptag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a014e87fbd82d970d01bb080adcd7970d2015-04-07T15:00:00+01:002015-03-19T23:22:36+00:00Last November we released the long awaited daily updates feature within the BIM 360 Field web environment. The feature allows licensed users of BIM 360 Field to create, manage, and share their jobsite performance reporting to project stakeholders within the same interface they use for punch lists, equipment tracking, and...Paul Walker

Last November we released the long awaited daily updates feature within the BIM 360 Field web environment. The feature allows licensed users of BIM 360 Field to create, manage, and share their jobsite performance reporting to project stakeholders within the same interface they use for punch lists, equipment tracking, and general field data management needs.

We are now happy to report that the daily update functionality is now available on the BIM 360 Field iOS app for iPad!

With this update, all of your jobsite performance detail can be synced between the BIM 360 Field web environment in the trailer and the BIM 360 Field iPad app on the jobsite—and vice-versa.

For non-BIM 360 Field customers, or for those current customers that haven’t yet utilized daily updates in the web environment, we have summarized the top 5 features which are covered in the screenshots below:

View daily update status (completed or in process) by day within a monthly calendar

Automated weather and forecast population in each daily report

Track labor and manpower: Who is doing what, when and where

Capture progress made on the project. Including issues, work completed, project delays, visitors, and even photos

Automated sync between cloud and mobile for easy collaboration with project teams

In the daily updates calendar view, you can easily see what days’ worth of updates have been completed/signed-off, and those that are in process. (Dark Green = Completed) (Light Green = In Process)

A key factor for schedule delays on any project are the weather conditions. Daily updates on the iPad provide automated population of weather and forecast information. Additionally, the weather fields can be manually edited to accommodate specific local conditions.

As in the daily updates web version, you can now track and enter labor and manpower details for each day. For example, you can document which companies were onsite and what work each of the companies performed.

When drafting your daily update, you can easily provide a summary of the progress made on the project in the General Notes area. This can also include images, issues, work completed, project delays, visitors, etc.

The addition of daily updates to the BIM 360 iPad app ushers in a new Auto Sync feature. As long as you are connected to the internet, any data entered will upload to the cloud automatically upon saving the daily update.

If you are interested in learning more about the daily update feature within BIM 360 Field, be sure to check out the following resources:

Interact and correspond with other BIM 360 Field users and our support team here

The new feature is currently available for download within the BIM 360 Field app on the Apple App Store. Click here to download today.

Innovation: Diagnose Before You Prescribe!tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a014e87fbd82d970d01b7c6fbde7b970b2014-10-28T17:01:01+00:002014-10-28T18:08:20+00:00I recently had the pleasure of participating in the AEC Hackathon in Seattle, as well as attending the recent BIMForum in Dallas. At both Autodesk-sponsored events, I was inspired by the sheer amount of creativity and enthusiasm exuded by AEC professionals and software developers, looking to push BIM – and...Dace Campbell

I recently had the pleasure of participating in the AEC Hackathon in Seattle, as well as attending the recent BIMForum in Dallas. At both Autodesk-sponsored events, I was inspired by the sheer amount of creativity and enthusiasm exuded by AEC professionals and software developers, looking to push BIM – and our industry – further ahead into the future with new tools and processes. Some tools drew a fair amount of excitement. In particular, drones and 3-D printing continue to ride a wave of hype, joined by a resurging interest in Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies, to extend and leverage today's BIM tools and processes. AEC Hackers and BIMForum presenters are definitely having fun, inspiring colleagues, and pushing the envelope!

Yet, despite the exciting advances for our industry, I was also equally frustrated by the way new (or in the case of VR/AR, new again) technologies were positioned, pitched, and presented. All too often, new technologies were touted as game-changing, with barely a nod to the game they purportedly change.

All too often, "innovators," seduced by shiny technology, leap into technical details and features and functionalities without thoughtful exploration or explanation of the context of real-world business problems. Simply put: too much sizzle, not enough steak. AEC professionals, supposed benefactors of innovation, are left wondering, "What's in it for me?" Unfortunately, this is all too common in innovation, and this oversight when developing new technologies casts a pall on valid R&D when observed by the conservative AEC industry. To claim a new technology is a solution, or the solution, without clear analysis of the problem to be solved, relegates these potential "tools" to the mere status of "toys" in the eyes of practitioners who could likely most benefit from them.

Taking a cue from "Solution Selling"® methodology, I offer to the hopeful envelope-pushers and dynamic pitchmen of new technology: To be successful with your innovation, diagnose before you prescribe!

You wouldn't go to a doctor and expect a prescription handed to you for medication before you can sit down with a medical professional and describe what's ailing you! Why would an AEC "innovator" attempt to do that?

Before experimenting with and applying a solution, and long before touting it as a heroic fix, you need to understand the pain faced by real-world AEC professionals. Be specific, and describe who has this pain, and when. Analyze the underlying reasons for the pain, and dig further to find the reasons behind those reasons. Further, study and document the impact of this pain in an organization, across a project team, or between firms: what bad things happen to others because of it?

If possible, try to quantify the pain and its impacts in real monetary value. Ask specific "MOM" questions, like how much, how often, or how many times the pain occurs. Document this estimated pain, because if you arrive at a successful solution, this is what you can use to calculate a return on any investment in your innovation.

Finally, only after having documented the pain, reasons, impact, and value, try to document a vision for new and extended capabilities from real-world professionals expressing their pain. If they were in charge, what would they want done, and how would it address or mitigate their pain?

Then, and only then, are you ready to brainstorm, hack, experiment, research, develop, pitch, demonstrate, differentiate, present, and ride a wave of success that cannot be mistaken for empty, irrelevant hype.

The split between those who grasp this and those who don't was clearly evident at recent BIM events.

As an AEC Hackathon judge, I was sincerely encouraged by teams that developed their "hacks" in the context of real-world problems. Winning teams were handsomely rewarded, with two top prizes going to teams that focused on solving pain faced by contractors in the field. Their solutions weren't crowded with shiny toys, but were attractive to AEC practitioners because they were relevant and useful. By contrast, other teams enamored with new technologies who didn't articulate their solutions in the context of a business case were summarily dismissed. Their ideas may have been fun to explore, and amusing to watch, but so are circus clowns; ultimately and rightfully they took a back seat to serious teams sincerely mitigating pain to move our industry forward.

This dichotomy between the true innovators and the pretenders was also clear at the BIMForum. The most successful presentations weren't the ones who discussed new technologies simply for the sake of being "new" or "better;" the best ones were those that described their work by thoughtfully including discussion of the problems faced by designers, builders, and owners.

There is certainly nothing wrong with experimentation and exploration for its own sake. But when it comes to developing innovative tools and processes for the AEC industry, where real pains exist and real dollars are at stake, successful solutions can't just be pretty to look at; they must prove themselves to be relevant. The solutions prescribed by innovators must follow a careful diagnosis of the problem.

Building Information Modeling: What’s in a Name?tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a014e87fbd82d970d01a73dce0f50970d2014-05-29T23:04:05+01:002014-05-29T23:14:21+01:00Recently, I participated in the BIMForum in Boston, where the topic about "Design Optimization" drew a record crowd of professional attendees. Early and often, the presenters referenced "BIM" (Building Information Modeling) as a term or concept, with notable attention to the "I" (Information) in BIM as a key point of...Dace Campbell

Recently, I participated in the BIMForum in Boston, where the topic about "Design Optimization" drew a record crowd of professional attendees. Early and often, the presenters referenced "BIM" (Building Information Modeling) as a term or concept, with notable attention to the "I" (Information) in BIM as a key point of emphasis in successfully optimizing design.

The term Building Information Modeling (BIM) has been around over 20 years, and the concept of representing buildings digitally and spatially has been around about twice as long as that. You might think that a group of professionals dedicated to discussing and advancing BIM would be able to hover around a common definition for the term, or even a common term itself. Yet, there was more than enough perversion and variation of the term BIM to suit any number of viewpoints: painfully-redundant "BIM Models," not-quite-synonymous "Virtual Design and Construction," "Town Information Modeling" for urban planners, "Building Information Management Models" for facility owners and operators, and the horribly misleading 3D, 4D, 5D, 6D, 7D, etc for those who like to confuse things even further!

While it would be nice someday to settle on one term to rule them all, it became painfully clear that in 2014, we have a long way to go towards a standard term and definition for "BIM," much less agreeing on BIM standards for professional practice!

BIMs are 3-D models, but not all 3-D models are BIM.

BIM ≠ VDC

When explaining the subtle and not-so-subtle variations between these terms with owners, designers, and builders, I've found it useful to map out the domains of "BIM and "VDC" this way:

As you can see, "BIM" and "VDC" are not synonymous, nor should they be used interchangeably. When mapped this way, they describe and define similar but different concepts, and with BIM reaching horizontally across all phases of a building's life cycle, and VDC constrained to just two phases but can span vertically across multiple markets and project types. I am not arguing for the superiority of one term over the other, but rather: an attempt at clarity about when and why to use each term.

Department of Redundancy Department

Much has been made of the sorely redundant and all-too-often used term "BIM Model." It's as painful to my ears as the terms "ATM Machine," and "PIN Number." My colleagues developing and promoting BIM solutions are at least as guilty of using this embarrassing phrase as the myriads of professionals who echo the term and further its use. A handful of passionate and purist BIM professionals have campaigned and pleaded to curb its usage, from joking about killing #FluffyKittens, to implementing "BIM Model" swear jars.

But let's take it one step further. Is the term "Building Information Model" itself redundant? Consider the following breakdown and loose definitions of the components in the term "Building Information Model:"

Building, from Proto-Germanic buthlam "house"The spatial, structural, and physical expression of values of an individual, organization, or society

Information, from Latin informare "to shape, form"Act of giving shape, structure, form, or likeness to a value or concept

Model, from Latin modulus "a small measure, standard" Spatial representation, likeness, or construction of a concept or set of relationships

If you look at these terms in this way, arguably all three terms describe loosely the same thing: a way we give meaningful expression or shape to a concept or value. In particular, we have significant redundancy between the meanings of "information" and "model." Are they interchangeable synonyms? No. But they have such overlap in meaning, we ought to consider a bit of reductionism for clarity.

It's a Model

We're decades into this BIM journey, and our industry ought to be ready to drop our second-millennium baggage, set aside the clay and foam core for our preschoolers and retired architects, and shorten the term "Building Information Model" to simply what it is and always was meant to be: the model.

With that point, let's go back to the recent importance of the "I" in BIM at the recent BIMForum. There, "information" was emphasized heavily in presentations and discussion about "Design Optimization," implying that one could not efficiently or effectively optimize a design with "dumb" or uninformed, geometry alone. However, the term "model" by itself is sufficient to represent the design intent; today's models appropriately include 3-D geometry, 2-D tabular arrays, and 1-D text strings to give them meaning and utility. We need not labor on the presence or emphasis of the "I" in BIM. Rather, we need to clarify our terminology, raise the ante of our expectations, reduce our cluttered vocabulary, and upgrade our use of "model" to a contemporary way of thinking.

It's just a model. Of course it is data-rich to be useful for design optimization, and a whole host of other BIM uses. If it wasn't embedded with meaningful data, it simply wouldn't be a model consistent with today's standard of care.

It's just a model. A digital one, a smart one, an enriched one, a useful one, a measurable one, comprehensive one, an accessible one, an enduring one, and one capable of simulating the full lifecycle of a project.

But it's not a BIM, a TIM, a FIM, a PIM, a BAM, a BIMM, or even a VDC artifact. It's a model.

What do you think? Is your firm ready to leave behind outdated terminology and uninformed representations of design, whether they're built of polygons or paper?

As an industry, are we ready to accept that a 21st-century model, without meaningful information associated and embedded, is insufficient to address our contemporary needs in planning, design, construction, and operations?

~Dace

When Construction and Technology Converge - Part 2tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a014e87fbd82d970d01a511b45060970c2014-05-11T07:57:58+01:002014-05-11T07:57:31+01:00I was checking my iPad to see if my 7 year old daughter left any apps open and what I found really interested me. Along with the educational games that she is allowed to load and play, I found Autodesk® FORCEEFFECT® MOTION, TinkerBox HD, and a few pictures of her...Shawn Butler

I was checking my iPad to see if my 7 year old daughter left any apps open and what I found really interested me. Along with the educational games that she is allowed to load and play, I found Autodesk® FORCEEFFECT® MOTION, TinkerBox HD, and a few pictures of her stuffed puppy in her brother's highchair in Autodesk 123D Catch open.

My first thought was she was looking for something but then I remembered the pictures of "Lisa the Puppy" in 123D Catch. I asked my daughter what she was doing with the pictures and she said, "Doing work like you daddy, I want to put my puppy into my Revit doll house." Yes, she can draw in Revit!

AVG Technologies research shows that children, age of 9 and under are able to use an app on a smartphone/tablet has increased 38% over the last 3 years. The article went on to say, major moments in a child's life, such as the first time they ride a bike, appear to be increasingly superseded by digital coming-of-age capabilities like operating a smartphone or opening a web browser. My daughter went on to tell me that she likes her Surface that she uses at school because it is more like her computer at home; "I mean daddy, I like your iPad in the car but my Surface at school does more and my teacher says because we save our school work in the cloud we can work on it from home too."

By the ages of 3-5, more children are able play a computer game (66%) or navigate a smartphone (47%) than tie their shoes (14 %) or swim unaided (23%) AVG Technologies research.

I opened up Autodesk BIM 360™ on my iPad, gave it to my daughter and asked her what she thought of this app. She tapped a recent model, started to slide her fingers over the screen, and I was wondering what she was trying to do; then she tapped the "?" and the fun began.

In the middle of all the fun she asked me, "Daddy where is the model at? Can I show this to my friends at school on Monday?" After a lot of explaining she accepted the, "no, you cannot", because I could not give her a user name and a password. Then she said something that made me think further, "Daddy, what good is it if you can't share it with everyone?" That lead me to think how is the construction industry preparing itself for this new generation that consumes data, trusts the cloud, and wants to share?

Static workflows that rely on printing and mailing will not work with the next "digital generation". They are coming with their tablets in hand and are ready to jump in. One contractor stated, "Making the move to mobile was a big leap for my company and this was one of the biggest technological changes we made in the last 10 years", ConstrucTech. The construction industry must understand; the younger generation that is coming will be coming in to the workforce expecting to connect their devices. Companies have to start the change now. The contractor also went on to say, "The transition has benefitted our firm in ways I could have never imagined."

That brings me back to Autodesk BIM 360™. When you equip this generation, that is mobile ready, with tools like BIM 360 , which transforms the way construction data is collected, connected, visualized, and managed, you empower the generation that trusts cloud-based software, to manage data, collaborate, and improve the construction process from preconstruction to commissioning.

The research shows that knowing how to use digital devices is almost a birthright to this generation. The research goes on further to say 65% of college students consume their news from mobile devices, 77% use it when they first get up, and 72 % before they go to sleep, and 82% us it for school related tasks, College Students and Mobile Devices.

Mobile is their life style, taking pictures, posting status, and group messaging is what they do and with powerful software and apps like Autodesk BIM 360™ we can nurture these life learned skills to improve the construction process. The construction industry and the software creators have to realize that the app must be user friendly, intuitive, help must be a fingertip away.

Even though she had no idea what she was doing, she was able to open a model, find the help, create a markup, measure something and move around the model.

She asked me can I send this to my friends or post it where they can see it. So I had to explain the business side of the software and tell her we could not do that just for fun. With that she took the screen shots and shared them out to her tablet so she could show the world.

The construction industry must realize whether the project is a one-story building or multi-build campus, being designed locally or internationally, mobile collaborative project management is a must because it increases efficiencies and ease of collaboration while lowering expenses. We also know that they must do mobile collaborative project management because the next generation of contractors are demanding it and using these solutions is that easy.

-Shawn

Getting more out of your data rich construction model with BIM 360 Gluetag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a014e87fbd82d970d01a73d82e185970d2014-02-27T21:40:44+00:002014-02-27T21:39:57+00:00You've probably seen videos and demos showing how to explore the model in BIM 360 Glue (BIM 360 Glue Workflow – Reviewing the design). You've probably also seen how BIM 360 Glue can help you avoid costly clashes (also read this post on The cost of clashing) and communicating changes...Thomas Schwaiger

Can you dig deeper than that? Let's say you wanted to understand how the design has changed over several iterations, or to quickly find all the components of a mechanical system, or to prepare views that highlight certain aspects of the model so everyone on the project can look at the same information. Read on, and I'll show you how this can be done in BIM 360 Glue.

Reviewing changes and old model versions

BIM 360 Glue keeps a record of all model versions ever uploaded. Typically you're interested in the latest and greatest. However sometimes there is a need to review older versions. Maybe because you are considering reverting to a previous option or because you need to understand why a change has been made. Because BIM 360 Glue has a record of these versions it is very easy for you to open and explore these versions.

Simply go to the Models module and right click on the top node. This will give you the "View versions" option. This works for both individual and merged models. Merged models will use the individual model versions from that date.

Then you can select any of the previous versions from the resulting Versions dialog and double-click to view that particular version. Hovering over a version reveals more details such as who uploaded it and when.

BIM 360 Glue lets you know through visual indicators that you're looking at an older version. In this case the merged model references older versions of the Architectural and Structural models. The Mechanical is already the latest.

When you're done with looking at the old version you can quickly jump back to the present state of the model by hitting the Refresh button

Identifying objects with same characteristics

There are several ways how you can do this. Which one is best depends on how well you know the model and some personal preferences. Let's use an example where we want to quickly see all the ductwork for the supply air system. You can use the following options to find such objects:

navigate the object tree in the Models module

search for it in the Models module by clicking on the magnifying glass

and using a relevant search term. In this example I want to find components for the Supply Air system.

or identify and select it in the model itself.

Once you've identified a single component of the group you want to see, view the properties (through the context menu 'View Properties' and apply the "Select similar" command where appropriate. In this example I want to see the complete Supply Air system, so I right click on the System Type = Supply Air property value to select similar objects, i.e. the ones that have the same property and property value.

Now that you've selected all these objects you want to show them. Right click in the canvas and use the "Isolate" or "Hide unselected" options.

See below for the result of 'Isolate'. You may need to adjust your Transparency setting in the Options.

Setting up colored views to highlight model areas

Now this is very useful to identify objects, by using hide or isolate you can better understand how these components fit in with the rest of the model. But you do not always want to go through the same process, and you also need to share this view with other users so they can quickly access this information. Colored views are the right tool for the job.

Click on Views in the BIM 360 toolbar and use the "Add color" option. Make sure you still have the objects selected.

Pick a color you want to apply to the selected objects (in this case it's green so it visually stands out), give it a name and click on Save. Now everyone on the project can access this view.

Also while this example uses the mechanical system for air supply you can apply this for many other areas. Whether you want to understand the types of doors or windows installed, or quickly highlight all drywalls of a certain size. These tools help you go beyond analyzing the model visually-- access and utilize the rich property data that comes with the model!

-Thomas

BIM 360 Glue mobile 2.2 Releasedtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a014e87fbd82d970d01a73d6e4d0f970d2014-02-03T19:45:16+00:002014-02-03T19:40:02+00:00Version 2.2 of the BIM 360 Glue mobile app for iPad is available on the App Store today. For those of you upgrading to this release, the first thing you'll notice is the updated user experience, which has been optimized for iOS 7. New users will benefit from contextual user assistance to help you learn the features as you use them (upgraders can access these too, as I'll explain below). This new release also includes new features that have been requested by numerous users, such as the ability to select object property URLs, and support for transparent objects in BIM 360 Glue views and markups.Paul Walker

Version 2.2 of the BIM 360 Glue mobile app for iPad is available on the App Store today. For those of you upgrading to this release, the first thing you'll notice is the updated user experience, which has been optimized for iOS 7. New users will benefit from contextual user assistance to help you learn the features as you use them (upgraders can access these too, as I'll explain below). This new release also includes new features that have been requested by numerous users, such as the ability to select object property URLs, and support for transparent objects in BIM 360 Glue views and markups.

Updated User Experience

The BIM 360 Glue mobile user experience has been updated to better align with other BIM 360 Glue clients, providing coherence for users switching between them. The interface is much cleaner, with a fresh appearance; and in line with iOS 7 it puts increased focus onto the content (your models) and guides you through specific workflows. For example, when adding a markup, the top bar provides clear instructions and the primary action (that which we expect the user to take) – Notify in this instance – is highlighted in blue.

Throughout the app, attention has been paid to grouping 'positive actions', such as Save and Notify, in the top right of the screen, whilst 'negative actions', such as Cancel are positioned in the top left. This type of consistency will assist users, not only in learning current functionality, but also future features that are added.

Other usability enhancements have also been added in this release, such as renaming the Back button (when viewing a specific model) to Models, thereby making it clearer that this will take you out of the current model. These improvements have been identified through a number of usability studies that have been carried out with a number of customers. Thanks to all of you that participated in helping the continuous improvement of the app!

Select Object Property URLs

Many users have provided feedback that they have object properties embedded in their models providing a URL to additional information, such as manufacturer websites or equipment specifications. Up until now, you have been able to read those property URLs, but couldn't do anything with them. With the 2.2 release, that changes! You can now tap your property URLs and be taken to the specific web page.

Support for Transparent Objects in Views and Markups

In the BIM 360 Glue desktop client, you can make objects transparent and save Views and Markups based on those overrides. One example where this is used by BIM 360 Glue customers is with Clashes, where a markup is created whilst viewing a clash result. That markup can then be shared with a project member who will receive a notification. If the user opens that markup notification on their iPad, they will now be taken directly to that markup, and be able to clearly see the clashing objects with all other objects semi-transparent. And by adding another markup in response, communication between project members isn't restricted to those in the office.

Contextual User Assistance

Earlier I talked about how this new version of the app helps to guide the user through workflows, and how this release further helps new users to learn the app through contextual user assistance. This new user assistance – in the form of coach marks – appears the first time a new user opens a model, or launches one of the tools, such as Markups. The coach marks appear as a semi-transparent layer over the model scene, and call out the available functionality. Tap anywhere in the background to dismiss the coach marks, and to bring them back at any time, simply tap the question mark in the lower right of the interface. If you're in the main model scene, then the main coach marks will be displayed; if you have the Models, Views or Markups panel open, or are using the Measure tools, then the respective coach marks will be displayed, providing the essential information required to use that feature.

Tapping on any of the coach mark callouts or icons will access the appropriate section of the online Autodesk BIM 360 help, where you will be presented with additional information. All of the coach marks are built into the app and always available, however you will require an Internet connection to access the additional online help content.

You can download the new release of BIM 360 Glue mobile from the iTunes App Store.

Three ways to efficiently communicate project issues using markups in BIM 360 Gluetag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a014e87fbd82d970d01a3fc89ae3c970b2014-01-21T16:06:43+00:002014-01-21T23:49:39+00:00It's often easy to see project issues as you navigate a model or look at drawings. Communicating these so they get resolved is another matter, first you have to document the problem and then the recipient has to understand what you mean and find the problem location. Now, imagine this...Thomas Schwaiger

It's often easy to see project issues as you navigate a model or look at drawings. Communicating these so they get resolved is another matter, first you have to document the problem and then the recipient has to understand what you mean and find the problem location. Now, imagine this process could be simplified by drawing and commenting on a model view which is then shared with all relevant project participants so that they can add their own comments and markups. Think of an email thread that is connected to your model and readily accessible to the entire project team. I'll show you how you can do just that with BIM 360 Glue and take the pain out of the communication for these project issues, via web, mobile and desktop app.

First somebody on the project identifies an issue. He/she highlights it through a markup circling the issue and some descriptive text. Note that it does not have to be a problem – it could also be a visual way of asking for approval of a design change. To help with tracking these issues, put it in a folder e.g. "Open issues". You may also rename it so it is easily recognizable for other project members.

Don't wait until others discover the issue – notify them! BIM 360 Glue lets you send emails directly to your project members by clicking the envelope icon. The email includes a hyperlink that takes the user straight to the issue you wanted them to look at.

Other project participants receive an email that looks like this. Hopefully you have provided some meaningful text and they will click on the link "Take me there".

The first user adds a comment to it and starts building up a communication trail. In this case, it's the user with the reviewer role (see this post BIM 360 Glue – Easy, Accessible Reviews for the Extended Project Team) accessing BIM 360 Glue through the browser, where he/she can review the markup, and add his/her own markup items and text comments. Again he/she can finish his/her work by notifying others on the project directly from within BIM 360 Glue.

The next user receives the notification email on his/her iPad. Tapping the link takes him/her straight to the BIM 360 Glue app and shows the relevant markup. Read this post BIM 360 Glue Collaboration Goes Mobile for more details on the markup features on the iPad.

TIP: you can expand and collapse the communication thread in the markup panel to show more or fewer details by using the pinch zoom gesture on the panel on the right.

This user can now also add his/her remarks through markups and text, and may even do so when offline. His/her changes are synchronized as soon as he/she goes back online again.

And finally you can also notify project members about your comments directly from the BIM 360 Glue mobile app, thereby keeping everyone up to date.

This can go over several iterations and anyone on the project can start this process from any place: desktop, web or mobile device – it's all connected!

Finally as good practice remember to move the markup to a folder such as "Resolved" once the issue has been resolved.